ISLAMIC VOICE,
fEBRUARY 2009
5
T
he Muslim World
Fiqh Academy to set guidelinesfor Fatwas
Makkah;
An international conference to discuss problems relatedto randomly issuing fatwas was scheduled to be held last month, atthe headquarters of the Muslim World League (MWL). “In view of the significance of fatwas in the lives of Muslims, the Fiqh Academy,a subsidiary of the Muslim World League, is organising a conferenceto determine the methods and terms and conditions that should governfatwas,” said Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the MWL. Al-Turki said religious scholars and researchers from all Muslim countriesand communities were invited to the conference. Custodian of theTwo Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, who is concerned about the lightmanner in which people appearing on television channels were issuingfatwas, is keen on convening the conference, Al-Turki added. “Somepeople make their fatwas on issues that they do not know in-depthand without due consideration for the Shariah requirements. Issuinga fatwa is a very serious matter as it involves making a decision onthe basis of the law laid down by Allah and explained by the Prophet,
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.(Pbuh) Al-Turki said
Divorce rate jumps
Jeddah:
The average number of monthly divorce cases in SaudiArabia was 1,980 in 2008 against about 1,500 cases in 2007, theMinistry of Justice said in a statistical report published recently.According to the ministry, there were 24,428 divorces in 2008, whichis an increase of 5,663 cases over the previous year’s 18,765. “Theaverage monthly marriages was 9,480 in 2008 while the average.monthly divorces was 1,980,” the report saidThe report said 15,851 marriages were registered at the courts lastyear while 99,698 were registered by marriage officials. The ministrysaid Riyadh, with 7,085 cases, topped all Saudi cities in divorces whileMakkah, with 5,749 cases, came second. Family medicine consultantDr. Ahmed Abdul Moneim attributed the rise in divorce cases to anumber of reasons, including the absence of religious values, lowincomes, intervention of relatives in the personal lives of the married
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.couples and the adverse effect of satellite cable programming
Call to expel Israeli diplomats
Kuwait
: A Kuwaiti Islamist MP called for moving Arab League headquarters from Cairo to Caracasafter Venezuelan President Hugo Chaves expelledIsrael’s ambassador because of its onslaught onthe Gaza Strip. “I call for moving the Arab Leaguefrom Cairo to Caracas,” MP Waleed al-Tabtabaisaid during a special debate in parliament over theIsraeli offensive. Tabtabai said that Chavez “hasproved that he was more Arab than some Arabs,”after he expelled the Israeli ambassador in protestagainst the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians.in GazaChavez expelled Israel’s ambassador to Caracason January 6, 2009 and Israel retaliated a daylater, saying it was expelling Venezuela’s charged’affaires. Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania, the onlyArab countries to have diplomatic ties with theJewish state, have ignored public calls to expelIsraeli diplomats. An Israeli trade office in Qatar .also remains openTabtabai also criticized Egypt, which hosts theheadquarters of the 22-member Arab League, for “refusing to open the Rafah” border crossing toallow the passage of food and medical supplies tothe battered Palestinian territory. He was echoedby other MPs who also called for sending more aidto the Palestinians in Gaza. Shiite MP Ahmad Lariurged Kuwaitis to donate on month of their wagesto the people of Gaza. At least 1,000 Palestinianshave been killed and more than 4,500 other wounded, many of them civilians, in the Israeli
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